1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a recreation enclosure and, more particularly, to a novel and improved, lightweight, compactly foldable enclosure especially useful as a camper capsule which can be removably mounted about trunk portions of an automobile.
2. Prior Art
While proposals have been made for various types of shelters adapted for attachment to portions of automobiles, most such proposals have suffered one or more of the following drawbacks:
(A) the proposed structures have been relatively massive, both in size and weight, and, in many instances, have required specialized equipment to effect their mounting on and removal from an automobile;
(B) where the proposed structures have been of sufficiently large size to accommodate a plurality of persons, the weight of these units has undesirably affected the driving characteristics of the automobile, and, in some instances, has required the installation of special suspension system equipment and/or the use of additional wheels to support the structures;
(C) where proposed shelter structures have been designed for mounting over the trunk of a vehicle, they have either required removal of the trunk lid in order to permit the use of the trunk space or have been mounted at distances sufficiently removed from the trunk lid to permit its opening, or have prohibited access to the trunk; and,
(D) many proposals for automobile-mounted shelters have required the installation of fasteners through the body of the car and have thereby destroyed the watertight integrity of the trunk and/or passenger compartment.
In some instances, proposed shelters adapted for trunk mounting have, themselves, occupied the vast majority of the trunk space and have thereby prohibited the normal use of the trunk compartment.
Still another problem encountered with many proposals for automobile-mounted shelters is that the shelters are difficult to store in a garage stall in such a manner as will permit normal use of the stall by an automobile. Where proposed shelters have been storable in a garage stall without inhibiting normal use of the stall by an automobile, most have required relatively elaborate stands or guy-wire systems to support the shelters above the garage floor or in a suspended attitude from the garage ceiling.
While many proposals have been made for automobile-mounted shelters of various types, prior to the conception of the invention described in the referenced Grandparent Utility Patent, the need had gone unanswered for a relatively simple and inexpensive, easy to install, easy to store, lightweight camper capsule which would not prohibit effective use of the trunk space of an automobile.
3. The Parent and Grandparent Patents
The referenced Parent and Grandparent Utility Patents address the foregoing and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing novel and improved, trunk-mountable camper capsules for automobiles which are light in weight, which will accommodate a plurality of persons, which can be installed on an automobile, removed and stored with ease, and which do not prevent normal storage use of an automobile trunk compartment. The referenced Grandparent Design Patent relates to an attractive design configuration for such a camper capsule. Moreover, such camper capsules as may embody the subjects matter of one or both of the Parent and Grandparent Utility Patents are adapted for use with a wide variety of automobile model configurations without requiring the insertion of fasteners through holes formed in the automobile body, whereby the watertight integrities of the automobile trunk and passenger compartments are preserved.
In accordance with the preferred practice of the invention described in the Grandparent Utility Patent, a trunk-mountable camper capsule includes a compartment-defining means and a mounting system for mounting the compartment-defining means about trunk portions of an automobile. The compartment-defining means includes an upstanding frame structure having spaced side walls with top and bottom walls extending transversely between and interconnecting the side walls to define four walls of a "primary" compartment adapted to be positioned rearwardly of the trunk compartment of an automobile. The compartment-defining means also includes a forwardly-extending structure having spaced side walls with top and bottom walls extending transversely therebetween and interconnecting the side walls to define four walls of a "secondary" compartment adapted to overlie the trunk compartment of an automobile. The upstanding frame structure includes a forwardly-facing wall which interconnects the two bottom walls, and a rear wall interconnecting the frame's side, top and bottom walls. The forwardly-extending structure includes a front wall interconnecting the structure's side, top and bottom walls. The side walls and top walls of the frame and forwardly-extending structures are rigidly interconnected to communicate the primary and secondary compartments, whereby a single, large habitable enclosure is defined by the capsule.
While the camper capsule described in the Grandparent Utility Patent overcomes many drawbacks of prior art proposals, it is of rigid construction and does not have movable wall portions which will permit the capsule to be folded to provide a more compact configuration for over-the-road travel. The Parent Utility Patent is an improvement in the construction of a camper capsule of the type described in the referenced Grandparent Utility Patent, which improvement permits the resulting camper capsule to be folded to a more compact configuration for over-the-road travel without necessarily altering the unfolded appearance of the capsule from that shown in the referenced Grandparent Design Patent. The camper capsule described in the referenced Parent Utility Patent includes a rigid bottom structure with a foldable upper structure. The foldable upper portion includes wall portions which define essentially the upper half of the camper. In one embodiment, the foldable wall portions are formed from rigid materials and are hingedly interconnected and arranged to be folded to a collapsed position overlying the trunk of an automobile on which the camper is mounted. In another embodiment, certain of the foldable walls are formed from flexible material such as canvas supported on frames, and the foldable walls are positionable in a collapsed position overlying the trunk of an automobile on which the camper is mounted.
While the camper capsule described in the Parent Utility Patent is an improvement over many prior art proposals, is still contains non-foldable portions contributing somewhat to the bulk of the folded camper capsule.